Time-lapse showing the departure of ATV Georges Lemaître from the International Space Station on Saturday, 14 February 2015.

ESA’s fifth automated cargo ferry completed its mission to the International Space Station when it reentered Earth's atmosphere and burned up safely over an uninhabited area of the southern Pacific Ocean.The end of the mission came as the craft broke up as planned at about 18:04 GMT (19:04 CET) on 15 February 2015, marking the end of the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) programme. The programme has served the Station with the most complex space vehicle ever developed in Europe, achieving five launches in six years following its 2008 debut.

This timelapse video was made from images taken by ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst orbiting Earth on the International Space Station.

The video is offered in Ultra High Definition, the highest available to consumers. Be sure to change the settings in YouTube if your computer or television can handle it for the full effect.

The montage is made from a long sequence of still photographs taken at a resolution of 4256 x 2832 pixels at a rate of one every second. The high resolution allowed the ESA production team to create a 3840 x 2160 pixel movie, also known as Ultra HD or 4K.

Playing these sequences at 25 frames per second, the film runs 25 times faster than it looks for the astronauts in space.

The artistic effects of the light trails from stars and cities at night are created by superimposing the individual images and fading them out slowly.

Alexander Gerst is a member of the International Space Station Expedition 40 crew. He is spending five and a half months living and working on the ISS for his Blue Dot mission.

Highlights from the docking of ATV Georges Lemaître to the International Space Station. The fifth and final Automated Transfer Vehicle docked with the ISS at 13:30 UTC/15:30 CEST on 12 August 2014. The vehicle is carrying 6602 kg of freight, including 2680 kg of dry cargo and 3921 kg of water, propellants and gases.

This time-lapse video shows the ATV-5 Georges Lemaitre loading process and its integration on the Ariane 5 launcher before its transfer and launch to the International Space Station from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana on 29 July 2014.

The fifth in the series of the largest spacecraft ever built in Europe is also the heaviest load an Ariane 5 has ever launched. ATV-5 is set to carry almost 6.6 tonnes of supplies to the orbital outpost, including a record amount of dry cargo: around 2682 kg.

Georges Lemaîtres will deliver experiments, equipment, spare parts, water, air and even artwork to the six astronauts living in space.

ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst will be responsible for docking and unloading the cargo when ATV arrives at its destination around two weeks after launch.

These images were taken by cameras on the Ariane 5 launcher that rocketed skywards on 29 July 2014 with Europe’s last cargo vessel to visit the International Space Station, ATV-5. The video shows the separation of ATV Georges Lemaîtres and its Ariane 5.

From then on, it was a self-sufficient spacecraft heading towards the Space Station. The video also shows Ariane’s last stage manoeuvring out of the way.

ATV-5 is carrying almost 6.6 tonnes of supplies to the International Space Station, including a record amount of dry cargo – 2682 kg.

With ATV-5 George Lemaitre soon to be launched to the ISS from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, ESA pays tribute to George Lemaitre, the Belgian cleric and professor who was the first the conceive the idea of a big bang.

The name of the man who proposed the prevailing« expansion” theory on the beginning of the universe was proposed by Belgium’s delegation to ESA.

This video explains who was Georges Lemaitre and how he contributed to modern Cosmology.

It includes an interview in English and French with Professor Dominique Lambert, Theoretical physics - University of Namur

ATV-5 will deliver more than 2600 kg of dry cargo to the International Space Station and packing the cargo requires careful planning and execution because it has to endure the rigours of its launch that is set for this summer on an Ariane 5 from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

All items are placed in standard bags and strapped tightly to the racks. The complete module is rotated to allow technicians to access the roof and floor compartments that become the walls after rotation. Astronauts in the Space Station can unload the bags in space from all sides as they float in weightlessness.

The technicians are wearing cleanroom suits to prevent contaminating the cargo and spaceship. Living in space weakens human immune systems and every precaution is taken to avoid taking harmful bacteria and viruses to the orbital complex.

Credits: ESA–S. Corvaja, M. Pedoussaut, 2014; Music by Hubrid-Agonie.

ATV-5

ATV-5 is the last in the series to deliver supplies to the International Space Station.

The fifth Automated Transfer Vehicle will be launched from Europe's Spaceport in French Guyane.

It has been named Georges Lemaitre as a tribute to the Belgian physicist, father of the Big Bang theory.

After launch on an Ariane 5 from Kourou, ATV will automatically navigate to a precision docking with the Station’s Russian Zvezda module.

It will remain attached to the ISS for up to six months before reentering the atmosphere and deliberately burning up together with several tonnes of Station waste.